YouTube brings Dark Theme to mobile

Dark Theme on YouTube is now officially available on mobile—on iOS, with Android version set to be launched soon. The web version of dark mode was added sometimes last year, and became instantly popular among users and visitors to the website. At the time, many users thought it won’t be long until the mobile version was added, but that was not to be until now. The Dark Theme for mobile was first spotted by a Reddit user last January.

Though, Android users will still have to wait for a while to have the feature added, iOS users meanwhile can visit iTunes to have their version of the app updated to the latest in order to access it.

Dark Theme is preferred by many users because of its many benefits. For example, viewing YouTube in a room with dim light does not leave any strain on your eye. It is very unlike the usual way of watching YouTube, especially in an apartment where there is no light or the light is dim.

Another advantage of Dark Theme is that it does not drain your battery on OLED display—so, it is good for conserving the power of your battery.

YouTube formally announced Dark Theme in the middle of last year after it quietly added it to its service without raising an eyebrow. Dark Theme, according to the company, is designed to “cut down” on glare and let you take in the true colors of the videos you watch. It [Dark Theme] turns your background dark, and enriches your YouTube experience.

In other news, YouTube will henceforth link directly to Wikipedia to fight conspiracy theories. The move was announced on Tuesday by CEO Susan Wojcicki who gave a brief insight on what the video streaming site wants to start doing.

What YouTube wants to achieve with this new arrangement is to fight against hoax. If a user search and click on a conspiracy theory video about any topic on YouTube, the video streaming platform will now link to a Wikipedia page that debunks the hoax along with the video.

However, only videos with significant debate on YouTube will have conspiracy theory links:

“Our goal is to start with a list of internet conspiracies listed on the internet where there is a lot of active discussion on YouTube,” Wojcicki said at SXSW per Wired.

Just last February, YouTube announced that it will start displaying notices below videos uploaded by state-funded broadcasters. The company said this is aimed at equipping users with additional information to help them have a better understanding of the sources of news content they choose to watch on the video-streaming site.

It represents one of the biggest moves being made by YouTube to tackle fake news—a menace that is causing a lot of issues on virtually every social media platform these days.

It will also fight against state-sponsored news item—and will therefore come as a big blow to the U.S.’s Public Broadcasting Service among other print and electronic media houses/organizations.

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Ola Ric is a professional tech writer. He has written and provided tons of published articles for professionals and private individuals. He is also a social commentator and analyst, with relevant experience in the use of social media services.